Quotes About Communication

In the modern world, we often find ourselves in the unnatural position of meeting someone who knows little or nothing about us. That can add a little pressure to the occasion, and it may add more if your mother was prone to saying "You get only one chance to make a good first impression!" You may find yourself scanning the person for feedback so intensively that you start seeing things that aren't there.

In short, from natural selection's point of view, it's good for you to tell a coherent story about yourself, to depict yourself as a rational, self-aware actor. So whenever your actual motivations aren't accessible to the part of your brain that communicates with the world, it would make sense for that part of your brain to generate stories about your motivation.

Bernard Shaw's play My Fair Lady.

Las palabras son de elástico, las manos de greda, van guardando las huellas, dicen la verdad sobre las personas. Graban la historia de la persona.

Sin embargo, Erdosain no se movía de allí… Quería decirles algo, no sabía cómo, pero algo que les diera a comprender a ellos toda la desdicha inmensa que pesaba sobre su vida; y permanecía así, de pie, triste, con el cubo negro de la caja de hierro ante los ojos, sintiendo que a medida que pasaban los minutos su espalda se arqueaba más, mientras que nerviosamente retorcía el ala de su sombrero negro, y la mirada se le hacía más huida y triste.

Reading is more important than writing.

When you know something, you know it, and when you don't, you'd better learn. And in the meantime, you should keep quiet, or at least speak only when what you say will advance the learning process.

I am dying now, but I still have many things to say.

There are silences made just for us.

Cuando uno sabe, sabe, y cuando no sabe lo mejor es aprender. Y, mientras tanto, no decir nada, a menos que los que uno diga esté encaminado a hacer más claro el aprendizaje. Su vida misma, según explicaba, había sido un aprendizaje constante.

You have to listen to women. You should never ignore a woman's fears.

Se puede conquistar a una muchacha con un poema, pero no se la puede retener con un poema. Vaya, ni siquiera con un movimiento poético.

That night I didn't sleep a wink, said Norton in her letter, and it occurred to me to call Morini. It was late, it was rude to bother him at that hour, it was rash of me, it was a terrible imposition, but I called him. I remember I dialed his number and immediately I turned out the light in the room, as if so long as I was in the dark Morini couldn't see my face. To my surprise, he picked up the phone instantly.

I started to think about the abyss that separates the poet from the reader and the next thing I knew I was deeply depressed.

On the ride back to the hotel, they lost the sense of being in a hostile environment, although hostile wasn't the word, an environment whose language they refused to recognize, an environment that existed on some parallel plane where they couldn't make their presence felt, imprint themselves, unless they raised their voices, unless they argued, something they had no intention of doing.

Uno tiene la obligación moral de ser responsable de sus actos y también de sus palabras e incluso de sus silencios, sí, de sus silencios, porque también los silencios ascienden al cielo y los oye Dios y sólo Dios los comprende y los juzga, así que mucho cuidado con los silencios

Tentou dizer alguma coisa num par de ocasiões, mas não conseguiu, o silêncio dela, porém, não era desagradável nem implicava rancor ou tristeza. Não era denso mas transparente. Quase não ocupava espaço. Inclusive, pensou Espinoza, você poderia se acostumar a esse silêncio e ser feliz. Mas ele não se acostumaria nunca, isso ele também sabia.

They talk but their words don't register on the soundtrack. Anyway, they must be saying things like how was your day, I'm tired, there's an avocado sandwich in the kitchen, thanks, thanks, a beer in the refrigerator.

una cosa era escribir sin la e y otra muy distinta traducir sin la e

All those languages, all that whispering, simply a vicarious way of preserving our identity for an uncertain length of time.

Y sin embargo cuando hablamos, digamos, cuando hablamos de hombre a hombre. Suena horrible, pero ese es el nombre de ese tipo de conversación crepuscular. Me dejo entender que estaba allí para hacerse matar, que supongo no es lo mismo que estar allí para matarte o para suicidarte. El matiz está en que no te tomas la molestia de hacerlo tu mismo

It's as if you were giving me a part of you," said Vanessa.

Se puede conquistar a una muchacha con un poema, pero no se la puede retener con un poema.

Her silence wasn't unpleasant, not did it imply resentment or sadness. It was transparent, not dense. It took up almost no space.